Over the Hill Birthday Party

February 7th, 2009, 4:16 PM

When we’re children, we await each birthday with bated breath, gleefully anticipating cake, gifts, and party games. As adults, even though each birthday is special, there are a few that garner extra attention – our milestone birthdays. If an “oldster” in your life is approaching their 40th, 50th, or 60th birthday, why not celebrate with an “Over the Hill” birthday party theme? Depending on your party approach (and the personality of the celebrant), Over the Hill parties can be humorous, or they can wax sentimental. Whether you’re planning on laughing along with the guest of honor or paying tribute to the celebrant’s life, here are a few ideas to spring your Over the Hill birthday celebration into action:

Invitations

For a funny flair, invite your guests to help “push” the honoree on their downhill journey toward old age with invitations decorated with tombstones, vultures, dentures, or the Grim Reaper. You could even construct a mock obituary, commemorating the “end of youth” for the honoree. For a more serious tone, opt for an invitation with a classy design, and let your guests know the purpose of the event is to commemorate the life of the honoree. Along with the invitation, include a questionnaire for the attendee to complete. Questions can be funny or serious, such as:

  • My favorite memory of the guest of honor is:
  • Three words to describe the honoree are:
  • The birthday girl touched my life when she:

Party Decorations

Black is where it’s at when you’re decorating for an Over the Hill party. Dark balloons, tablecloths, tableware, and streamers along with tombstones, vultures, and Grim Reaper decor will set the tone for your fun festivities. Tie balloons from canes and walkers, and serve chips in bedpans alongside dip in denture containers. Provide black armbands, gray wigs, glasses, and fake hearing aids for your guests.

Party Menu

For Over the Hill party fare, anything goes. A buffet-style set-up of your favorite finger foods, such as sandwiches, wings, pizza, cubed fruits and vegetables, and meat/cheese plates, will be a surefire hit with your guests. For added fun, include a few pureed or soft foods for the “oldster” and serve prune juice cocktails.

Sheet cakes can be decorated to mimic a tombstone, or topped with artificial dentures, “candy” canes, or clumps of dyed gray coconut.

Party Fun

Invite guests to share their questionnaire responses, and show a “this is your life” slideshow, complete with baby pictures and milestone photos from the honoree’s life. Tailor this sharing session to be funny or serious to match the tone of your event.

For outdoor parties, have a walker or cane race, allowing each participant to use only one leg while they dash to the finish line, or play shuffleboard, croquet, or bocce ball. Bingo, complete with oldster-themed “prizes”, makes for great indoor fun.

If your attendees are on the daring side, consider hosting a game of “Guess that Food,” where blindfolded guests attempt to guess the flavors of various pureed baby foods. (Fruit varieties will go over best!)

Party Favors

Sending guests home with a few tasty treats to commemorate your Over the Hill party will extend the fun of your event. Timeless party favors include cookies decorated with a “40” (or “50”), or candy with personalized wrappers. For favors with a humorous touch, opt for snack-sized bags of prunes, rolls of anti-acids, muscle ointment, reading glasses, coupons for incontinence products, or bags of M&M’s relabeled as “energy pills.”

Whether your Over the Hill birthday party is humorous or has a more serious tone, it’s important to be sensitive to the feelings of the honoree. While some “oldsters” may take jibes in stride, others may be more sensitive about being the object of the fun. With a little sensitivity and a lot of creativity, your 40th, 50th, or 60th birthday party will go off without a hitch!

Filed under General Party Ideas · Comments

A Valentine’s Day to Remember

February 1st, 2009, 8:01 AM

Mid-February of each year is a time of courtship and romance. And as they say, cupid’s arrows are aimed at the least suspecting souls. For singles, men and women may find themselves initiating new connections with a newfound confidence. Those who are already in relationships may use especially grand gestures to display their affection for one another. Even children are eager to exchange kind sentiments with their peers. Without a doubt, love is in the air on February 14th, Valentine’s Day.

A History Rooted in Mythology

The day of love is thought to have roots in Roman mythology, a paganistic festival, and the early Christian church. In the month of February, Pagans traditionally observed a feast day to celebrate fertility. According to Roman mythology, Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were cared for in their infancy by a she-wolf. Each year on the fertility feast day, Roman priests gathered to sacrifice a goat (the symbol for fertility) at the cave where the founders were raised. After the sacrifice was made, leftover strips of goat hide were dipped in blood and women were whipped with the pelt. Women welcomed the flogging in hopes that they would be more fertile in the coming year. They also put their names into a hopper to be randomly paired with a man for the upcoming year. Once this festival was deemed un-Christian and subsequently outlawed, it was decided that Valentine’s Day would serve as a suitable replacement to commemorate the upcoming mating season. The holiday’s patron saint is said to have been an ordained priest who secretly married young soldiers and their wives-to-be at a time when new marriages were outlawed for those in the military. Once St. Valentine was exposed for his crimes, the emperor had him imprisoned. There, in prison, St. Valentine is said to have delivered the first valentine to a girl with whom he was smitten. Legend has it that his valediction was “From your Valentine”.

Modern-Day Observances

Today, most lovers, family members, and friends express their affection for one another by sending combinations of cards, flowers, and candy as Valentine’s Day favors. Whether store-bought with a run-of-the-mill verse or handmade with a heartfelt dedication, a card is a classic way to convey a sentimental or funny message.  Next to Christmas, more cards are sent for Valentine’s Day than any other time of the year!

Red roses, the signature flowers of passion and beauty, are the ones most commonly gifted, but there are other floral options that can convey different sentiments. It’s a good idea to consult a florist when making a bouquet selection, as certain flowers have varied meanings in different societies.

Appealing to the senses with full-bodied flavor, chocolates are widely chosen for their perceived amatory properties. Conversation hearts are the runner-up, delighting all ages with their pastel hues and cutesy sayings.

If you’re searching for new ways to profess your amorous feelings and celebrate Valentine’s Day, here are some fresh ideas that are sure to warm hearts:

  • Personalize it! From making your own candies and piping an icing epithet onto them to penning eloquent rhymes and binding them in an anthology, you can’t lose when it comes to customizing your sentimental offering.
  • Instead of dining out, plan to make a candlelight dinner for your paramour. Julienned green papaya and beets on a bed of spring mix salad followed by a course of red snapper, asparagus, and orzo is vivacious and appetizing. A bottle of Riesling or Chardonnay complements the flavors especially well. A red velvet cake for dessert is a happy ending to a good meal.

Extend the theme by warming your home with Valentine’s Day decorations:

  • Add spice to your garnet-hued floral arrangement by filling the space between nested glass vases with cinnamon heart-shaped candies. The sweet scent will invigorate any passerby. For an unscented version, use pastel candy hearts and coordinating pale flowers to achieve the same visual effect.
  • Fashion a heart-shaped wreath to hang on your front door. A wreath made of raffia or heart-shaped felt pieces could be reused year after year.
  • For singles, hosting a Valentine’s Day party can be a great way to introduce friends to one another. Stock up on plenty of Valentine’s Day party decorations, blush wines, and tasty treats.

Whether you’re planning a quiet night at home with your loved one or an exciting night out, make this Valentine’s Day the best one yet!

Filed under General Party Ideas · Comments